Stephen Ritter, CTO of Mitek, had some good insights that we thought would add constructively to the conversation. Below are his viewpoints.

How is trust changing in regards to consumers sharing their data?

Now more than ever before, consumers are cautious when it comes to online interactions. From high-profile data breaches like Equifax and Target, to Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal, consumers are more on alert and aware of what information they are sharing online and with whom. As a result, companies have to work harder to build trust and good reputations with their customers, especially in digital channels.

Consumers crave convenience, but when it comes to their identity and personal information, often the opposite is true. They are willing to take extra precautions to make sure their personal information is safe, and that they can trust who they are doing business with. Because of this, organizations need to adapt to meet the shifting preferences of consumers. They are no longer aimlessly providing personally identifiable information (PII) on any website, but they are thinking twice about what the website is, what link they are clicking on and what information they are willing to provide.

Are consumers becoming more open/closed to sharing?

Earlier this year Mitek commissioned a report by Zogby Analytics on consumer confidence in the digital channel and found that 99 percent of U.S. consumer respondents said the feeling of trust is important to them when it comes to doing business online. The report also found that even in the era of instant gratification, consumers want online businesses to take extra steps to verify the identity of their users. Eighty-five percent of consumers are more likely to interact with websites that have a ‘seal of approval’ indicating that they verified the identity of all users versus sites that do not.

This means consumers are willing to experience some friction online if it makes them feel confident that the person they are doing business with is who they say they are – as long as it is done reliably and quickly. For payments companies and others operating in regulated markets, identity verification is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have due to Know Your Customer regulations.

What technologies are enabling these changes? What are leading companies doing in the space?

Identity verification has become key for mobile payments and banking companies in order to help create safe onboarding and achieve compliance for onboarding and money movement. Our technology combines identity document verification with facial comparison to quickly verify the identity of customers in the digital channel. The system is built with AI and machine learning, which delivers speed and accuracy of results creating a great customer experience and real-time results for the business. The user simply takes a photo of their government issued identity document, then takes a selfie and the photo is compared to the photo on the ID document to ensure the person completing the transaction is who they say they are.

We work with over 6,100 banking and fintech institutions globally, including money transfer leader MoneyGram, to not only add a layer of trust, but also help onboard more customers quickly and in compliance. We also help them and other customers reduce fraud.